Pet of the Month: Kallie!

August 21, 2013

Introducing “Kallie” Patterson, our Pet of the Month for August. She is currently a lively, mischievous 20 week old healthy kitten but beautiful “Kallie” had a rough start.

Adopted as a 9 week old kitten from a private home via Kijiji, Kallie was brought to the clinic because she was not eating well and had soft stools. Her exam revealed her to be running a high fever and also to be 3-5% dehydrated. During her visit, Kallie’s right front paw became very sore to touch, an observation not seen at home by her new owner. A decision was made to treat “Kallie” conservatively with antibiotics for the fever, fluids under the skin to help correct the dehydration and medication to stop the diarrhea. To help determine the cause of the bowel upset, a stool sample was submitted to the laboratory to look for the presence of parasite eggs. The sample was positive for Coccidia (Isospora) so we were then able to dispense specific therapy to correct this condition. Kallie’s family was requested to keep her quiet to keep the weight off her foot, with the plan of performing xrays and giving additional pain medication should the discomfort continue.

“Kallie” was rechecked in 3 days. By this time, her fever had resolved. Kallie was also active and eating well. Her stools were normal and her paw no longer seemed as sensitive to touch. Kallie’s owner reports two sneezing episodes but no runny eyes or nose in the meantime. Her tests for feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency virus were negative. It is our belief that “Kallie” may have had “limping kitten syndrome” which can be caused by calicivirus, a common viral infection of kittens. Two weeks after this visit, Kallie had successfully finished all medications and we were able to start Kallie’s kitten vaccination series.

“Kallie” has never looked back. She is now almost finished her kitten vaccines and is looking forward to a wonderful life with her new family!